Heriot, Patterson lead Fort Mill to sweep over Northwestern

In a make-up game needed after a snow storm earlier this month, the Fort Mill boys’ and girls’ basketball teams swept Northwestern Saturday to finish the first half of their Region IV schedule.

In the girls’ game, the Jackets beat Northwestern 58-36 and the boys beat the Trojans 65-48. With the sweep, Fort Mill’s girls are now 1-3 in region play, while the boys team improved to 3-1.

In the boys’ game, Fort Mill was led Ryan Heriot, who scored 19 points in the win. Josh Amigo added 12 points and Carson Morton had 10 points in the win.

“I am proud of their effort,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe. “We knew it would be physical and they came ready to play.”

Hartsoe said the key to the game was the quick start Fort Mill had as the Jackets went up 15-1 after the first quarter. The Jackets shot a little under 50 percent in the opening quarter and held the Trojans to just nine shot attempts, all of which came up short.

Northwestern scored its first basket of the game in the second quarter and battled back to make a game out of it outscoring the Jackets 18-15 in the period. Fort Mill was aided by Cole Schleif as he scored all seven of his points in the game in the second. Northwestern opened the period on a 10-4 run as the Trojans pulled within 11 at the half at 30-19.

Fort Mill again took control in the third quarter and shot 66 percent as they team got solid play from Heriot and Morton in the quarter on fast break points. The Jackets pulled ahead by 18 to open the fourth quarter, though the offense for both squads stalled when the referees called a series of fouls. Fort Mill got off just four shots in the fourth quarter, but took 16 free throws. Northwestern shot 13 free throws in the fourth as well as the teams combined for 42 fouls in the game.

Girls: Fort Mill 58, Northwestern 36

Fort Mill’s girls, like their male counterparts, again used a strong start to jump ahead of Northwestern. Fort Mill had two players score in double figures as KK Patterson led with 21 points and Unique Burch finished with 13.

“That is good as an offense as we have had for weeks,” said Jackets head coach Brett Childers. “We rotated well on defense as well.”

Patterson scored 12 of Fort Mill’s first 13 points as Northwestern struggled with turnovers early on in the first quarter. The Trojans played better in the second quarter, outscoring Fort Mill as the Jackets struggled from the field shooting the ball.

Fort Mill still took a nine-point lead into the half at 24-15, as Northwestern had 16 first-half turnovers. In the second half, the Jackets regained their composure and posted a 21-point fourth quarter with Calli Wells scoring all seven of her points in the game during the quarter.

The Jackets will have another long week ahead of it as they host Rock Hill and then play a make-up game at home against Lancaster that was originally scheduled for Jan. 3. They will end the week with a game at Clover.